Get Library Cards for Your Students
As a college-educated professional, you already know that a person becomes truly educated by doing two critical things: (1) working hard in school, gleaning everything she can from her teachers; and (2) reading books constantly. You already know that if a person doesn't read voraciously on her own time, she probably won't be as well rounded and highly educated as she might be. Therefore, you know how important it is for your students to read, read, read. The easiest way for kids to get their hands on books is to go to their public library and check out books for free. But that won't happen until the kids first get library cards. Your job is to encourage kids to do just that.
Some libraries will allow you, as a teacher, to take a pack of library-card applications and distribute them to your students. Many libraries, however, have strict rules requiring parents and guardians to accompany their kids to the library to fill out the applications there, prior to any library cards being issued.
If your neighborhood library has such regulations, write a form letter to parents encouraging them to visit the library and fill out card applications for each of their children as soon as possible. Mention in your letter that the application process will probably require parents to show a state driver's license or a state photo ID at the library. Children will also need to be present for cards to be issued.
I teach preschool. Should I encourage three-year-olds to get library cards and read?
Why not? Writers and educators Diana Hughes and Rhona Stainthorp report in Learning from Children Who Read at an Early Age that historically, many children have acquired reading skills at a tender age — including American novelist Truman Capote, who was reading before age five.
Help your kids develop the habit of reading for fun and enlightenment by helping them get library cards. You might just be creating an entire group of lifelong readers, thinkers, philosophers, and fully contributing American citizens.
